In the Eyes of Mages
by NanoMecka
Summary: AU...In the warplagued world of Ralus, A young girl and her newfound sisters join together to experience life through the eyes of mages. Love, death, and magic will await these three souls...just an experiment, but R&R if you want
1. Prologue

This story was concocted after I was reading this epic Legend of Zelda AU. I thought that I could make something like that, because I've been developing a plot, storyline, characters, etc. ever since childhood. So, I decided to apply all that I've made up in my HUGE imaginationinto MicrosoftWord...

_All original characters mentioned belong to me. All other characters belong to their respective owners._

**Prologue **

The streets of Kuma town were crowded as usual during the hot summer day. People were hustling and bustling through the packed lanes of the residential districts. The low murmurs of the huge groups of people fluttered excitedly as curious citizens started to crown around a large, rectangular-shaped building. Usually, this building would be used for town meetings, but today it wasn't in use. Men and women nearest to the entrance of the massive structure giggled wildly at what had covered the glass windows of the double-doors: a bright pink poster, donned with frilly lacings and a white rose in the top left corner. This particular poster was the talk of the town, and many of its residents were gathering around it to get a gander. The poster read the word "Wedding" in bold letters. But, what made the people so thrilled was that _everyone_ in the town was invited! Every person and the town drunkard could go! But…who's wedding was it?

"Maybe it was the wedding of a duchess to be wed to a king!" shouted a young lady.

"Or, it could be the marriage of someone important in the Mage lands! Oh, I've got to get my best gown ready…" said another.

"You women dream too much, because for all you know, it could just be some crackpot wedding between a man and his dog!" said a skeptical man.

"You must be joking…all this publicity for an ordinary wedding? I don't believe it!" yelled an old man behind him.

"You believe what you want to believe, old man, but I'm sticking to what I think." Grunted the skeptic.

Murmurs filled the air again. Who would think that such an extravagant poster were only an occasion in the norm?


	2. The story of Mom and Dad

**Chapter One - The Story of Mom and Dad**

Long ago, in the ancient world of Ralus, there was a war of high magnitude. This war went on for 10 years, between the Demons of the Dire Lands, the Mages of the sky kingdom, and the earth-dwelling Humans. Many have died during this bloody war, and countless others suffered greatly. Even the rulers of all three realms bore the sadness of their subjects. It had seemed that all was lost for the people, especially the human population…

Tired of the senseless fighting between themselves, the High Council of the Mages made a decision to join forces with the humans below, in order to stop the pillaging of the Demons. The lords of each of the six sub-kingdoms in Kariad –the name of the human realms- agreed to fight alongside the mages, and thus, finally do away with the savage Demon kingdom. Cirrus, the kingdom of the mages, would lead the aerial fights in the sky, while Kariad's troops would storm the enemy bases below. As soon as word got down to the earth, demons opposing the war took this opportunity to sign treaties with the lords of the human lands. This disabled the troops from attacking them. Malris of the Dire Lands got wind of this and immediately donned them as rebels and traitors of their birthrights.

Placed under the protection of Emperor Gazen, these rebels would serve the humans it repay their debts. Mai, queen of the mages disapproved of this practice. She warned that these 'former enemies' would betray the emperor and wipe out the kingdom from within. The emperor knew this, and ordered the captains to keep close eyes on their settlements. In case of a sudden uprising, his forces would be there to kill the source of the problem. Mai, depressed ever since the death of her only son Sirius, now subsides within the halls of her castle.

How these wars begin, was all thanks to Sirius and the mysterious maiden Aya. Prince Sirius was of high rank, noble and full of good upbringing. Aya had appeared ominously in the slums of Merkava, one of the cities in Cirrus. Sirius had gone into the slums to help out the victims of a previous skirmish, when he spotted a young woman lying unconscious in the gutter. Thinking that she needed medical attention, he took her to the local hospitable. The doctors couldn't take care of her because she had no records in their files. Sirius thought that she was an outsider, so he then brought her to the master nurses of Merkava. Again, they told him that there were no previous records of her visits.

Frustrated and concerned about the well being of this woman, he finally took her back to the castle in Sora. His mother saw what he was about to do, and protested about the presence of peasants in her home. Sirius then explained to her about the situation, and he brought her to the master physicians. They too told him that they knew nothing of her, but seeing the anger of the prince, they worked to revive the woman. Their efforts were successful, and the lady slowly came to.

* * *

During the night, Queen Mai paid a visit to the woman, and as soon as she came near her, she sensed her demon lineage almost instantly. She ran out of the room and ordered the palace guards to throw her out. Luckily, Sirius was just outside the barriers and saw them roughly pushing her the ground. He ran over to her broken form and carried her to a local housing. The owner and his customers stared at the prince as he took he upstairs to a vacant room. The woman was laid down on the bed as Sirius questioned her about what happened. She told what had occurred, and also about what she heard from the queen. The woman then told him about her being half-demon, half human, and unable to live a normal life because of her genes.

Amazed at this, Sirius interrogated the woman about her life, her known family members, and how she ended up at the slums. The woman then told him her name, which was simply Aya. She had been beaten and raped by a gang of anti-halflings, and was left for dead in the gutter. If it weren't for Sirius, she would have died that day. Aya wanted to repay him for his help, but Sirius refused. He wanted her to live a normal life, free from abuse, crime, and death threats. So he invited her to live at the palace in Sora, the capital of Cirrus.

A year passed, and Aya had fell in love with Sirius. He had loved her as well, but never had the time to say it. Aya on the other hand, had never loved anyone, so those feelings were completely new to her. So she finally had the chance to tell him while he was alone in his quarters. Ironically, Sirius was thinking of ways to tell her how much he loved her too. She finds the courage to pour out her feelings for him, and they make love right there. 9 months later, Queen Mai pronounced the birth of their daughter Millenia.

The next week, Sirius is called by his mother to lead the warriors into combat with a band of demons in the Netherlands. Since no one owned the Netherlands, it was the site of many horrible and frequent battles. Aya knew the danger of him dying in battle, so he tried to stop him from going. "Think of the baby!" she had said as he was preparing for a rough fight. At that moment, he stopped. Thinking of the baby gave him quite a scare, because if he were to die, their week old child would be fatherless and not know the wonders of having a loving father. Then he made up his mind and told the captain of the guard to go in his place. Having to live your life without knowing anything about your father was all too real in Sirius' mind. When Aya heard the news, she was overjoyed, and she even ordered the cooks to make a feast in his favor. Being the loving parent that she is, she let their daughter Millenia eat first.

Less than a year later, Aya and Sirius had gone to the place where she was found to celebrate their anniversary. Aya had just gone to lay flowers in the gutter where she had been found when Sirius had to confess something that had been biting at his heart for the past 4 months. He got on his knees and told her everything that had happened behind her back. He came clean to her about him cheating on her with one of the noblewomen, and that his mother wanted him to marry her instead of "filthy half-breed trash like Aya", as she had said earlier. Taken aback, Aya ran from him into the streets. Sirius tried to give chase, but he proved too slow compared to her. Later, he returned to the palace with a broken heart, and he sought the comfort of his daughter. He asked a maid to bring her to him, but the maid had told him that the baby wasn't in the palace at all.

Unable to believe those words, Sirius searched the grounds for any clues to her disappearance. It was until evening that he finally got something from a old guard that had stood watch during the day. He had said that a woman at the request of the girl's mother took the baby away. Sirius slumped to the ground and realized how much pain that he had caused her. He worried about Aya, and the safety of her and their little infant. "How could I be so stupid!" yelled at himself. Now, he would never see his future wife or their child ever again.

Meanwhile, Aya was struggling to come to a decision to either stay in the clouds, or go down below to start a new life. She was frustrated with the choices, because either one had bad results. If he were to really leave Cirrus and go to the earth, she couldn't live in the Dire Lands. And the humans would never accept a half demon. But if she stayed here, she'd have a better life. But, she'd have to live with the heart-wrenching thought that Sirius would break Aya's trust and cheat on her again. Also, she would be in constant dispute with his mother over who he should marry. Plus she had to think about Millenia and her welfare, since her grandmother wanted to 'purify' her palace and get rid of them. It was hard, but Aya chose to stay in the mage realm, although the grief and guilt would be too heavy a burden to her to bear. She thought that it would be best for her daughter to live in the land of her birth. She could also get to know her lineage, but Aya had to keep her royal blood a secret.

* * *

Years went by, and Millenia grew up in the suburbs of Zephyr, the third city in Cirrus. She went by never knowing what a real father was, since Aya had gone through many unloving boyfriends. She never married though, since she had a little thought in her head that Sirius would come back to her. Millenia had always wondered why she never did, and whom was she waiting for. She even tried asking her mother who her father was, but Aya would only blush for a few seconds, then fume at the thought of him. Millenia remembered that sometimes, her mom would cry in the middle of the night when she was sleeping. Maybe she was dreaming about something that hurt her a long time ago, a thought that crossed the young girl's mind frequently.

But one day, she went walking in the streets to a open-air market. She had bought some fish for her and her mother to eat when a man with long dark hair and steel gray eyes came up to her and asked her who she was. Remembering what her mother told her about strangers, Millenia ran from the man back to her house. She hoped that the man didn't follow her, because she took the long way to home. But unfortunately, she saw the man waiting at her front door. Millenia screamed for her mother's help when the man started to walk towards her. Aya came racing out of the house with shotgun in her hands, and then she pointed it at the man's turned head. Millenia saw the man smile at her, and slowly turned around to face her mother. Hoping that Aya would shoot the man on the spot, she braced herself for the blood splatter that could happen.

But to her surprise, her mother didn't do anything. Wondering what was wrong, she looked up at her mother and saw a look of complete astonishment. She was staring at the man right in the eyes, as though she had known him before. The man then turned back to Millenia and introduced himself as Sirius, the sole heir of the throne in Sora. Aya then fell to her knees and cried. Crying until her eyes were completely red. Millenia had never saw her mother cry so much, and so hard in all her life. Then, Sirius walked up to Aya and held her tight. He told her that he was so sorry for hurting her so much, and that he still loved her after all these years. Aya then proceeded to punch him in the face, saying that he forgot all about her and their daughter. After hearing Aya call her Sirius' daughter, an insight stuck Millenia: **_she_ **was the long lost daughter of the prince, whom had everyone searching for her and her mother for nearly a decade. Mixed feelings rushed through her mind as Aya and Sirius hugged.

'Why didn't she tell me that I was royalty?' Millenia thought, 'She was supposed to be my mother, and she goes and keeps something THIS important from me!'

* * *

Being the daughter of the crown prince wasn't easy for her. There were so many rules and regulations that she had to follow, it's no wonder that Aya fled the palace. Millenia was ordered by her grandmother to be tutored by the royal scholar on how to be a good princess every day. She also had to dress like a princes, walk like one, talk like one, eat like one, and even act like one. How was she supposed to play in the mud wearing such a fancy dress! Miserable and fed up, Millenia complained to her mother about how she was tired of being restricted to doing, saying, and eating certain things. Aya worried about this, and told her to talk to her father about the situation. Millenia was still not used to talking to that man, but she did and told him about how much she hated being treated like a little kid. Sirius saw this problem, and arranged her schedule so it fit with her own needs.

Being a princess was one hard thing, but being a big sister was even harder for Millenia. Before long after her arrival, her mother had given birth to another little girl whom she named Alexandria. Sirius was once again overjoyed at the birth of another child. But by then, people were starting to wonder whether or not he was going to marry her, or even keep her and the girls in the palace for that matter. Certainly, his mother was not pleased at what her son did. She was opposed to bringing Aya and their bastard child back into the palace grounds, but she was furious when they had another child out of wedlock. Not hoping that the news of the new baby would reach the public, Sirius told everyone who knew not to say a word about it outside of the grounds. If they did, then they would have their tongues cut out, as well as those who they told it to. While everyone was paying special attention to the newborn, Millenia grew to be seriously jealous. She knew that babies needed a lot of attention, but the older siblings -_especially_ her- needed just as much attention too. But because Alexandria was her sister, Millenia took special care of her when everyone else was too busy to do so.

Sadly, All of their happiness was sadly short-lived. A huge skirmish had started between the same rebel demons and the mages again. Now, it was certain that Sirius was going to fight in this mini-war, since the captain of the guard was fighting in it as well. He had no choice but to go into it, even though he did not want to leave his family behind. Aya did not beg him to stay, for she too had knew that it was inevitable for him to go. Of course, Millenia had knew nothing of this, because the people in the palace were afraid that her knowing that her father could die would cause her incurable grief. So, as her father and the troops were being lead to the airships that were to take them to the Netherlands, Millenia hid and watched. She wondered where he was going, and why he was leaving them so soon. Aya didn't want to bear the pain of seeing her love go to war to die, so she took the liberty to leave the city with her children for a while. But before she did, she got to visit and talk with Sirius one last time.

When the warriors returned with victory over the demons, a wave of sadness went through the people. Sirius and his troops fought bravely, but someone had came up from behind and chopped his head clean off. An eyewitness told the queen the grim news, and about who was it that killed the prince. The soldier had said that it was the evil Faulknir, commander of King Malris' troops who had murdered Sirius. But before he killed the prince, he had told his men that a thoroughbred mage of high degree shouldn't mate with trash such as half-demon humans like Aya. Queen Mai, after hearing these words, felt so disgraced for her dead son. She too had told him that he should not have had a baby with the woman, but to instead keep the bloodline pure. Mai suddenly thought about Aya and how sad she'll be when she hears about the death of her only love. So she sent for messengers to go find her and bring her back to the palace. But the messengers returned without anyone, saying that the townspeople told them that she had been long gone. Mai felt even more distressed at the loss of her whole family, and she suddenly wished for her 'Joey' to come back to her.

* * *

Aya felt that it was best if she left her children with her only know family member, her half-brother Alucard. Even though he was known as the Vampire Prince, he had a human form that no one could see through, except family. It was his only ticket to freedom from the Vampire rule, and Aya saw it as a perfect way to keep her children from the officials back at the palace from finding out. So, without notifying any of her neighbors, she left Cirrus and headed for Lamina in the human realm of Kariad. The only way out of Cirrus was by teleporting, and guards from Sora would be there on the look out for her and her children. So Aya charmed her eldest daughter's hair to be blood red, since it was an unnatural color for mage hair. She dressed herself as a visiting human and hid Alexandria in a basket. It was lucky for her that the security at the teleportation spot in Zephyr was lax that day, so she could easily slip by unnoticed.

Upon reaching the vicinity in Lamina, a guard had noticed that she was carrying a heavy basket. She was asked to hand over the basket that baby Alexandria was in. Aya then told then that it was just food from her visit to her friends. The personnel let it slide and allowed her to pass over the border. Just as Aya went in search of a pay phone, she spotted her half brother waiting for her by a car. Not wanting to waste time, she told her child to get into the car. Then she told Alucard all about her situation and told him to "take care of my girls while I'm gone…" She then kissed her daughters and ran off into the distance.

Millenia had neverseen her mother leave her for so long. It was especially hard on her because she and her little sister were without anyone that they knew. Her uncle was a complete stranger to her, but Alexandria was able to adapt to this sudden change. A couple years went by, and her anguish for her missing mother grew into spite, so she decided to change her name to just Millie. For her sister's safety, she also changed her name to Alex. Millie thought that it would be best to hide their real identity just as their uncle was doing. She and her sister grew up without knowing what in the world had happened to their dear father. No one had told them, and whenever they asked, it was only the same reply: "You'll know when your mother comes back." Neither sister knew that their lives would be changed due to the introduction of a brand new face. A face that would eventually change the world of Ralus for better, or for worse…


	3. A New Face

**Chapter Two – A New Face**

"Uncle! I wanna challenge you to a duel of weapons!" Millie yelled from her room, "If you lose, then you owe me a new familiar!"

"Sure…Watch me beat you AGAIN." Alucard replied.

"That was before, but this time I _will_ win," she yelled back.

A 17-year-old Millie ran down to the first floor of her uncle's mansion, with her long, scarlet hair. It looked like it was almost like blood streaming down from her head in thin lines. Her speed was unbelievable, for she got down to the anteroom in only a few seconds. She was really eager to finally beat her uncle at fighting. It was only a few months since she first got her weapon of choice, a soul reaper-type scythe, and she was already trying it out.

Alex, at 7, was quite intelligent, and more mature that most of her peers. She was the type to be introverted and secretive. Occasionally, she would tell her sister or uncle about what goes on in her life, but she usually keeps things to herself. Most days of the week, she could be found hidden in her room, building new machines to play with. But today, she planned to watch Millie fight Alucard and loose horribly. 'When will she ever learn…Uncle is way too powerful for her,' Alex thought, 'and we just started our training 3 months ago…too bad for her.' At this, she chuckled and walked to the indoor arena behind their manor.

The arena itself was about three-fourths the size of the mansion, equipped with training grounds and a mini-stadium. The training grounds were the scenes of many grueling sessions with their uncle. Alucard thought it was best for them to learn to fend for themselves while out in rough country. Out in the spaces between each city in Kariad, there was always a danger at every turn. Rogue demons that broke the protection code ran amuck, killing townsfolk and razing their villages. The law enforcements of the nearby cities would only protect the towns nearest to the main city, so those who lived on the outskirts of the county borders were out of luck.

But because Alex and Millie were under the care of their uncle, it was absolutely necessary that they learn to fight.

"Get ready to loose." said Millie confidently.

"Funny…you usually don't be so happy about it when you taste defeat…" replied Alucard smugly. "Alex, are you ready with the signal?"

"Almost…hold on." Said Alex as she ran towards the stands. When she reached the stands, there was a red flag and a black flag. The red flag represented Millie, if she won, and the same for Alucard's black flag.

"Here are the rules: whoever is the first to get tired out, knocked out, or forfeits first loses. And to the winner go the spoils, which a new familiar for Millie, and bragging rights for Uncle. Fighters cannot hit below the belt (ahem, Millie) or above the neck. Also, fighters cannot overuse their taunting abilities, or the crowd will become bored. Alright, to commence this battle, I will now hit this gong with my bare hands!"

All it took was for that gong to vibrate for Millie and Alucard to immediately go at it. Both fighters used their best tactics to work their ways through the other's protective mental shields. Exhausting it may be, but it helped them both to build up their strengths and weakness to the point where they could have control over what to use and when to use it. But unfortunately, only one can win, and only the most experienced fighters get those spoils….

* * *

I had never fully grasped the concept of friendship, because for most of my life, I was all alone. The slayer school that I went to, called the School of Popular Sorcery, sucked, and sometimes made my loneliness even worse. I would constantly get into fights with other kids about how I looked, acted, and talked. They all thought that I was 'weird' and not apart of their cliques. I had a flaring temper back then, so there was some girl fighting with me almost every week. But to be honest, I really didn't like to fight. It was only a defense mechanism, a way to get away from the trouble those people have caused.

But today feels unusual, as if something unexpected was going to happen. I kept getting these weird vibes all throughout the trip to my new school. I even was to the point of shivering! But, as usual, I'll suck it up and go to class with a tough heart. That's how it always has been…

"Class, I want you to meet the new student, Naida. Everyone, please give her a warm welcome to The School of Ancient Sorcery!" said Mr. Tomoe, as he gave me handshakes and lead me to my seat in the middle of the room. I really wanted to sit in one of the window seats, but I guess this one is fine. As the teacher goes on with the lesson, I can almost sense people giving me strange stares…or am I just being paranoid? Anyways, I wish that the teacher would give a more thorough lesson on rogue demons. I want to learn how to kill one, so I can get revenge on…nevermind. A girl with dark red hair light brown eyes in front of me just turned around. What does she want?

"Hello, newbie. My name's Millie. I guess yours is Naida…cool name. Wanna know what we've been studying so far?"

"Sure," I say, faking my meekness.

"Good, now let's see…right now we're learning about being a bounty hunter for the government, so…hold on, I have to get my notes." She said. Then she asked permission from Mr. Tomoe to go get some stuff from her locker. Then she walked out of the door. She talks too much…

Well, there's my first friend here, and I made it through half of the day without getting bothered by stupid people. I guess this school isn't so bad after all, if you take out the preps, the freaks, and the jocks. Oh well…Hmm…a little girl with black hair is seen walking with a tall man with the same color hair. Are they father and daughter or something? No…the man's looks are a little different from the girl's. But there is a resemblance, like how they both have steel gray eyes. And the girl from this morning is with them as well. The man must be here to see them off, like the other parents of the kids in my class. Ugh, it makes me sick to see these people worry so much about their children! I think I'm just gonna turn around and watch the sky for a bit...

"Hey, where are your parents? Aren't they going to see you off before the exam?"

"Wh-What?" I say as I turn around to see the little girl staring at me.

"Your parents. You know, the ones who copulated together to have you. Where are they?" she asks.

"Oh...I don't have any. They're both dead…" I say and hang my head a little.

"Oh…sorry. Well, do you want to be in our group?" she questions me again. Man, she asks too many questions…

"Your…group?"

"Yes, our group. The teacher told us to get into groups of three for this test. He said that it was going to be hard, since we're going to be tracking down a large group of rouge demons in the Shari Woods…"

A group of rogue demons? Could they possibly be the ones? No…the chances of them being the same ones are too low. Nevertheless, it's always best to go and see. I looked at my new group as they did the same, with their assortment of beautiful eyes. The man had seemed to be taking a special note on me while he looked.

"Sure, I'll join you guys."

Millie turned away from her conversation with Alucard to see Alex and the new girl walking towards them. She waved at them, and ran to the girl to welcome her into the group. Alucard eyed the green-eyed girl suspiciously, and wondered about her for a few minutes.

"How could someone of such rarity be living down here?" he said to himself.

"Huh? What did you say Uncle?" Millie asked.

"Oh, nothing…"

"Okay…" she said, thinking that he had gone monetarily crazy.

Alex tugged on his black jacket and whispered, "So you can sense it too…I guess I wont be the only rare one around anymore." She then smiled at this.

* * *

When it was time for the parents to go, Alucard gathered the girls in a circle and told them not to say a word about their 'secret lineage', nor about their special abilities. Doing so would literally jeopardize their lives. Alex would have to keep telling Millie to shut up about these secrets, since she has a big mouth. Naida, oblivious to that they're talking about, goes to ask what exactly will they be doing in the woods. The teacher restates what he said about their mission, and goes off to get the other kids. Naida scowls at the undesired answer, and walks back to her group members.

Millie and Alex say goodbye to their uncle, and then head off to the rest of the groups to receive briefing. Naida tags along, unsure about what to do. Then she asks Mr. Tomoe again about the mission, and he explains it now in detail to everyone else.

"Students, as you all know, you have been training for the last 2 years for this opportunity. This is a rare chance to see for your selves what it feels like to become a rogue hunter, able to earn a living off of hunting down scoundrel demons that pillage, rape, kill, and demoralize the poor villages in the plains. The city council in Lamina gave us the OK, so you kids can do whatever you want to the demons.

"Bring them back alive, dead, or just their heads are ways to get your rewards. Remember, the bottom line is TEAMWORK! If there's no teamwork, then someone could die. So that's why it's so important that you all work together. Also, it's wise to band together with other groups to fend off large groups of demons, so that way, they'll be the ones who are outnumbered. Well, when I make the signal, you all must use your stealth abilities to get into the forest without being seen. That is all." Before Mr. Tomoe gave the signal, Naida asked one more question. Everyone groaned in annoyance.

"Um…sensei? Who is the leader of this group? I just wanna know…"

Mr. Tomoe answered, "The main leader of the rogue demons is a female demon named Moko. She is of the low-level kind, and demands more power for her people. But she has yet to reveal her real intentions."

"Moko…I was right!" Naida growled in anger. She then raced off into the woods before the teacher could object.

"Someone go after her! She can't go in there alone! Everyone, go into he woods and start killing those demons immediately!" Tomoe sensei exclaimed.

'_Mother…Father…I'll avenge your deaths most honorably_!' Naida thought as she ran between the trees.

Instantaneously, Millie and Alex raced into the woods after Naida. Everyone back at the edge was scrambling into it, killing any demons in sight. Miraculously, Naida had been able to dodge the incoming demons, and headed straight for the thickest part of the rebel group. Indefinitely, Moko was there, ordering the other demons to counter the onslaughts of students. She had noticed that Naida had appeared suddenly from the trees.

"You are…Moko, correct?" Naida asked as she stared down the lesser demon.

"Yeah, and why does a little runt human like you want to know?" she replied.

"I want answers!" yelled Naida to the female demon.

"Answers, eh? Well, you wont get the chance to listen to them, because my henchmen will rend you asunder! Mwahahahaha!" she laughed. "I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance!"

"Fine…if death is what you want, then death is what you'll get." threaten the young girl.

Just then, 3 tough-looking demons came from the bushes and surrounded her. They looked like they were ready to eat her alive, but Naida stood there with the same look in her eyes. She prepared to take on the demons, but lucky for her, Millie and Alex found her just in time. Seeing a potential rumble, Millie smiled with glee and took out her scythe. Alex stood in the shadows to stay out of the fight. She couldn't risk fracturing her fragile body, although she could put up a good fight with her daggers. Still, it was best for her to stay hidden and 'heal' her companions when needed.

Back to the fight, the two guards came up to Naida and aimed punches at her. But they were too slow, because she jumped up into the air. Without warning, she promptly materialized a broadsword from her hands and slashed into the air. The force from her sword caused an aerial shockwave to surge through the air, hitting one of the demons on his shoulder. Both Millie and the other demon stared in awe as the wounded one cried out in pain. The force of the shockwave caused the surrounding tissue to melt away, bone and all. It looked as though it were a sickening way to die, since the demon twisted and thrash about in pain. Then it finally died. Millie had never seen such an attack before, only in schoolbooks. Alex, who watched the whole thing, shouted out to her sister about what Naida just did.

"Millie! That attack was called Shockwave Pulsar, and only a very few people can do it," yelled Alex from the trees. "It's very weak, but it's still a non-elemental attack…which means…"

"Which means that she is what I thought she was?" said Millie.

"Correct," responded Alex.

The other demon still stared at his friend's corpse, and became very frightened of the girl hovering above. Then it cowered and ran away in fear of meeting the same death. Naida was just about to do another attack on the fleeing demon, when Millie dematerialized and appeared in front of it.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked"

"Wh-Wh-What the hell are you people! Are you some kind of mage?" yelled the demon as he freaked out.

"Well, yes. We are mages. And we've come to slay your kind. Your leader's demands will never be met, because the High Council will turn their backs on rogue demons like yourselves…" Then, she gave him a dark glare and made a huge gash in his chest with her scythe. Almost instantaneously, dark, misty energy came rushing out, and was absorbed by her blade. The demon fell to the ground; a soulless body now lay at Millie's feet.

* * *

Not far from the site, Moko stared with wide eyes and what had just happened. 'They couldn't have done these things if they were ordinary humans…so they must be _mages_!' she thought. Too afraid of what the two might do to her, she turned and fled deeper into the woods. Naida spotted her running, and flew after her, chasing her through thickets and thorny bushes. Being hurt form the plants didn't bother at all; she was out for Moko's wicked blood. Alex got up and followed them, hoping with sick pleasure to see the demon get butchered.

Moko ran for what seemed hours, not tiring once. She finally stopped at an oak tree to catch her breath. She had hoped that Naida gave up chasing her so far into the forest. But her hopes were dashed as she looked up. Naida was right above her, giving her a basilisk' glare. Then she swooped down for the kill.

Moko held her hands to her face and waited for thee blow, but Naida stopped. When she finally opened her eyes, Naida's face was right in hers!

"Wait, please! Don't kill me!" Moko pleaded.

"And why shouldn't I?" said Naida, unfazed by Moko's crying.

"I'll tell you about how your family died!"

"I already fucking know! I saw everything with my own eyes!" Naida screamed.

"But, I can tell you who did it…"

"You killed them," A flat response came from Naida, "and I'm going to kill you to get their revenge!"

"WAIT! I'll tell you why I killed them, but please don't kill me!" Moko begged.

Forgiveness wasn't in Naida's mind as she chopped off Moko's head in rage. She could have listened to Moko's side of the story, but Naida had already known enough. By being killed, Moko had received vengeance for her family's deaths. Alex had just reached the area when she saw Moko's headless body lying in the leaves. Then she looked at Naida, who was nearly in tears. She walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Alex…what are you doing here?" she said with watery eyes.

"I came to see if you needed my help, but it looks like you didn't…" Alex said

"Yeah…I killed her that easily." She said back

"…I heard what Moko said to you about your family," Alex whispered, "I feel sorry for what you've gone through…"

"There's no need to be, Alex. That's gone in the past, and I just needed to get rind of the remnants."

"Yeah. Hey, do you wanna…you know, become adopted?" said Alex with mild surprise.

"Adopted? I've been through that too many times…"

"But you could get adopted by our uncle. But I don't know if he'll agree…"

"Adoption so soon? Looks like I'm gonna set a new record." said Naida as she pets Alex's hair.

"Let's go back to the sensei…but first, we have to get Millie. Who knows what she's doing to those corpses right now…"


	4. Mage Power

**Chapter Three – Mage Power **

Three weeks have past since the incident with Moko, and everyone in the class had received royalties for every demon they killed. Together, Millie, Alex, and Naida had gotten a total of 500 gold, which Millie spent half on weaponry. Alex took her share and bought a flute to play on/with.Lastly, Naida bought herself a silver bangle, which she used as decoration for her hair.Looking at it with misty eyes, she was incredibly happy at the sight of money. Living with her new family boosted her attitude, and she no longer felt lonely and depressed. Although Alucard was hard on her the first week, she was determined to be happy in her new home..

Alucard especially enjoyed having Naida around, since she actually did work around the house. The other two were lazy bums that lived in personal pigsties. Even Alex, who was the cleanliest of the group, was slacking off. Since buying that flute, she had been stuck in her room, working day and night on it. When Alucard said that it was time to practice, she finally came out.

"Alex, what have you been doing in your room all this time?" he asked.

"I was upgrading my flute, so I could use it to enhance my white magic. I call it the Angel Flute!" she said

"Hum…well, go and practice with your sisters."

"Fine…"

Alex walked off to the arena with her flute. The flute itself is a regular playing flute, except for the angel-like wings on the end. Its base is made of pink gold, something no one knows where Alex got. The flute had beautiful flower designs engraved in its gold frame. The designs were highlighted with regular gold, which looked like it was melted and poured into the etches. She went to the training grounds and met up with Millie and Naida. Of course, Millie was practicing her moves with the scythe. But Naida decided not to participate and stood there.

"Naida, how come you're not doing anything? Is there something wrong with your magic?" Alex asked as she walked into the room.

"I don't have any magic…except when I use my sword," she said.

"Well, can I see your sword again?"

"Okay, but be careful not to get too close. It burns anything it touches."

Naida then went on to take out her sword. She spread out her arms and held her hands parallel to each other. Then she put them together and pulled out a steel broadsword. It was about Alex's height, and it glowed with dark power. Naida gave it to Alex, who then looked over it. She evaluated its level of strength, and thought about how Naida was able to pull off doing a Shockwave Pulsar so easily. Then, she turned to Naida and asked her a question that bewildered her.

"Naida, do you know what a black mage is?" Alex asked.

"Well, yeah. They are a very rare type of mage that can learn all the offensive magic spells. Why?"

"Well…that move you did on that demon…it was a move that only black mages can learn. And we seem to think that you are a black mage…"

"Me? A black mage? You're joking…" said Naida as she looked at Alex with disbelief.

"Okay…what do you know about white mages?"

"They're just as rare as black mages, and the do low level holy magic, like Cure, Cura, and Curaga. They also can summon beasts to help them in battle."

"Would you believe that _I_ and a white mage?"

"Well, no."

"Then let me show you…"

Alex gave back the sword to Naida and called Millie to her side. She told Millie what to do, and walked a little ways to her right side. Naida didn't know what they were going to do, which was good, since she was being exposed to new things. Alex then started to glow a white gleam, and Millie had blue aura surrounding her as well. Alex took out her Angel Flute and played it. The sound of her flute was wonderfully rich, and it reminded Naida of walking in an enchanted flower garden in spring. Then, a burst of pink light appeared in front of her and formed into a shield.

"This is called Shell. It halved the strength of magic attacks aimed at you.Now, Millie will show you her powers as a blue mage..."

Millie nodded and swung her scythe in a full circle, and did what looked like her powering up for another attack. The blue aura around her intensified, and she ran to a nearby punching bag and punched it several times. The punching bag was full of metal and concrete, but it was still reduced to rubble.

Millie smiled at her work and said, "That was called Goblin Punch. I learned it from that demon guard we fought the other day...but kinda lame."

"Naida, now she learned was called an enemy skill, and only blue mages can learn certain moves from whoever they're fighting. It's pretty neat, since some enemies like to heal themselves…"

"I get that you two are mages-"

"-HALF-mages…" Millie cut in curtly.

"Yeah, half-mages, but what does all of that have to do with me being a black mage, of all things?" Naida asked.

"Hmm…Naida, have you ever felt as thought you wanted to burn someone for annoying you?" Alex questioned her.

"Yeah…"

"Ever wanted to go through a thunderstorm and wanted to get struck by lightning?"

"At times..."

"Do you like eating ice, even when you're in a cold climate?"

"Yup"

"Do you love swimmingfar into the ocean?"

"Of course. Who doesn't?"

"Idiot! You AREblack mage!"

Naida gave her an angry look. "How can I be one? Everyone else likes to do those things, so how can I be any different?"

"Here, let me show you…" Mille said.

Millie took the palm of Naida's hand and held it out in a flat position. She told Naida to think about fire and focus those thoughts into her hand. Naida couldn't believe what she was doing, but she agreed to do so. She thought of a house that she saw burning once, and focused that into her hand. It was hard, since she was a beginner, so nothing came out at first.

"See? I told you..."

"You must have thought of a stronger fire scene than what's needed. Try thinking of a candle flame and keep practicing. You'll get it soon." Millie said.

It took a couple of hours, but Naida was finally able to conjure up a Fire spell. It took a lot of tries, but she succeeded in making a piece of paper catch on fire. Unbeknownst to her, a special kind of energy is growing inside her heart, soon to form a crystal. This crystal will determine whether or not she can learn stronger black magic spells and skills…

Meanwhile, Alex and Millie were discussing what spells to use to make new ones. Being mages, they both have the ability to combine powers. So, when they need extra power, they could make up new spells from their shared powers. Naida then walks in and overhears their conversation. Unable to comprehend, she asks them that they mean by combinations of their magic.

"What are you guys talking about?" she asks.

"We're talking about making up new ways to attack, defend, and heal ourselves…" Millie said.

"How does it work? And can I try?" Naida responded.

"Sure…try out your new spell first." Said Alex.

"Okay…here goes nothing!" yelled Naida

With a swirling mass of dark energy from her hands (AN: aura and energy are the same thing…), Naida managed to conjure a fire spell from air. Alex was impressed, and Millie clapped at Naida's progression.

Millie gave her a pat on the head and said, "Good, you've learned a Fire spell quickly. From what I've heard, most black mages take months to learn something so simple. Maybe it's because you're older, and had more experience in battle…"

"Yeah, maybe they start their training young?"

"Most likely. Now, let's try making new things…"

"Sure."

Naida then took out her sword on Millie's orders and held it out. Millie then told Alex to cast another spell onto Naida's sword. While playing her flute, a strange orange glow was added onto the sword's black energy. When Alex's song was finished, the sword shone bright orange, with black wisps floating around it.

"What did you do?" a surprised Naida asked.

Alex smiled and said, "I added the status effect Confusion. Your sword already has Death on it, so that's why you were able to kill that huge demon in one swipe. To almost always have the effect activated, you need to change Death into Death Strike, which has a75 percentchance of inflicting Death on an opponent. Speaking of that," she said witha sternglare,"I think it's wise not to use it when sparring with us, because you might accidentally kill one of us."

Millie snorted. "As if THAT will happen. But if it does...either I -if I'm not dead too- or Uncle will be there to reverse it."

"Reverse? do you mean...revive, as in bring-back-from-the-dead revive?I thought that people stay dead…" Naida said immediately.

"Well, yes, after a period of time. A person is permanently dead after 30 minutes, but a Phoenix Down can work up to 33 minutes. That's why we have to hurry and use them. But most people either don't think to use them, or they are against magical items. There are a lot of people in the Human realms that are still against mage folk…"

"Tough life, being a mage in Kariad…"Naida aid sympathetically.

"Yeah, but disguises and fake identities do wonders" said Millie happily.

* * *

Naida spent the next day practicing more on how to use her newfound powers. "Being a Black Mage is great!" she would say every time she burned something to ashes. She also started to use other low-level magic, like Thunder, Water, and Ice. Once, during dinner, her drink wasn't cold enough to enjoy, so Naida tried using an Ice spell on it…only to have the whole thing -including the cup- turn to ice. Then Alucard yelled at her to use magic only when she needed to. 

Taking care of a blue mage and a white mage was hard work for Alucard, but since Naida joined the family, he has had guardianship over the whole set. Although, he misses having a red mage around to help him with everyday things. But it's best to have different types, because they can do different things better than others. Especially when cooking and cleaning (Naida using her Water and Fire spells) in the home. 'On second thought, having a Black Mage in here is quite useful…' Alucard thought one day. Too bad he never thought of teaching Naida how to control her new strengths.

"ACK! I got shocked again!" Millie would yell whenever she and Naida were in the pool at the same time.

"Ugh, not again…Naida, did you freeze the pipe water again?" Alucard would complain.

Things weren't going too well for Naida. She started to take in the others anger and become depressed. Good thing Alex noticed this, or something worse would have happened. So she told Alucard about he situation, and in turn, Alucard made an announcement to the family.

"Girls, since we have a problem with Naida's difficulty with controlling her magic, I have decided to take her to Elsine, the old Red Mage in Thoros." He said.

"Thoros? 'The city in the trees' you mean?" Millie asked.

"Yes. Elsine will be able to help Naida to restrain her powers better."

"But isn't that place full of man-eating wolves? You could get attacked…" Alex mentioned.

"But, with all of you with me, it wont be much of a problem." Alucard said.

"Excuse me, but I heard a peculiar rumor about some of the humans keeping wolf pups are pets," said Naida, "which is supposedly illegal, yet the law enforcement there doesn't step up their patrols."

"Hmm…well whatever it is, it's not our problem." said Millie.

The journey from their house in Lamina to the old red mage that lives in Thoros took only a few days. The family traveled in their fastest means of travel -their alter forms, with Alucard being his wolf form, Millie her demon form, and Alex her angel form. Naida didn't have anything to transform into, so Millie had to carry her on her back. Because of this, Millie often complained about Naida being too heavy for her to carry such a long distance. Alex would promptly tell her to "deal with it until we get to the gate!" which made Millie be quiet.


	5. Break

I kind of went ahead of myself and went on with the plot ;. I had a writer's block during chapter four, so I decided to write a chapter to see where I'm supposed to be heading with the story.

**Chapter X: Love and Lust**

"Oh man…we're trapped! There's no way out of this joint!" Aiko complained, "I'm too young to become some vampire's undead bride! I'm DOOOMMMED!"

"Shut up! You should be worrying more about Yuna's safety than yourself!" yelled Kazu.

"Well what the hell is taking her so long? That Seto guy said that she would be back in an hour, but it's already been four!" she yelled back at the red mage.

Naida then stepped into the argument to stop them before someone gets hurt even more. Ever since they fell off that cliff on Mount Morin, they've been bruised and beaten by the vampire patrols near the borders of the Dire Lands. And now, they're stuck in the infamous vampire Lord Seto's dungeon. Millie, Alex, Mai, and Rin had taken a different route around the mountain, so they had no other help. Then, to make things worse, the cell they were in had an anti-magic field, so none of the girls could use their elements to bust out.

"Well, at least we know where Seto's secret base is…" said Aiko after she calmed down. "But how are we going to tell the High Council if we have no means of contact with anyone? Sigh, this blows…"

"What we need to do is use this time to think up our plan of escape through, or else we'll freeze in here" said Kazu.

Naida thought for a moment, and said, "Yeah…if only Alex were here, she'd-"

"-She'd build a huge mech warrior and topple this place to the ground! YEAH!" Aiko cut in and did a victory sign.

"No…she'd use her white magic to purify our cell, enabling us to use our black magic against oncoming enemies." Naida explained

"Oh…well she'd be able to do both things, then we could go and rescue Yuna from that creepy vamp dude!"

"Speaking of her, I wonder what's taking her so long to come back…" Kazu wondered.

"I'm so tired…all this yelling and running around makes me sleepy," yawned Aiko.

"You lazy bum! You didn't even lift a finger to help out!" yelled Kazu as she tackles Aiko mercilessly.

"It's so stuffy in here," said Yuna as she opened up a nearby window.

The cold wind blew into the room, but it didn't bother her much. The room where Yuna was taken seemed human-like, with an elegant looking bed, a vanity, and a walk-in closet full of beautiful dresses. Seeing such a rich scene made her blush, considering that she grew up on a yak farm back in Eskomine. How did a poor farmer's daughter like her end up in the extravagant castle of the evil lord of the ice vampires? So many questions swam in her head, like a river flowing through her mind. She wanted answers from him, and she wanted them now…

Yuna went to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Expecting someone to be guarding the door, Yuna called out to the person.

"Yeah, what do you want, wench?" said a gruff voice.

Yuna flinched at the rough tone of the voice, but she regained posture.

"Why did he take me and not the others? Is this because my elemental power is ice as well? When will I go back? Did he take me to talk to me about something? Where are-"

"-Be quiet already! Your questions will soon be answered. Look, here comes Master Seto now…"

Yuna panicked. She didn't expect him to come back so soon, since it was just 30 minutes since he left her. She thought of busting through the window, but that would lead her to a 50 ft drop. Yuna then took a deep breath and looked around for a place to hide. '_C'mon, c'mon! Where can I hide where he wont see me_,' Yuna thought, '_maybe the closet, but it'd be too obvious! I gotta hide quick, or else he'll see me_!' So she made her decision to hide under the bed, despite there being cobwebs and sorts under it.

When Seto came in, he saw that no one was in the room. Then he heard the thick curtains on the window bang against the wall. He thought about her jumping out of the window, but he knew that someone so delicate could not do something like that. Seto thought of the potential hiding places, places where she could easily hide away from him. Then he had a hunch that she was under the bed, since there was quite a large lump in the middle of the mattress.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he taunted, "I know where you're hiding, Yuna."

As he closed in on the bed, the lump started to shiver. Yuna was getting scared by the fact that he knew where she was. She thought about holding up her place, but thought that it was best to give up.

"Fine, I'll come out, but only if you don't bite me or anything" she said in a muffled voice.

"Agreed, although the scent of your blood is quite…_alluring_." Said the vampire. He then proceeded to lick his lips when she came out from under the bed.

"Don't do that! It freaks me out!" Yuna exclaimed.

Seto looked at Yuna with complete contempt. '_She is very beautiful indeed, maybe I should consider making her my new mate…_" Seto thought. Unable to stand him staring at her body any longer, Yuna went to the closet to change. Seto wanted to stay longer and watch her change into one of the dresses, but he was unfortunately shooed out.

* * *

"That's right…I'm in love with you Millienia!" Soma shouted through the blowing winds.

Millie, wide-eyed and shocked at his words, felt a shiver run down her spine. She still could not believe what Soma had just said.

"Millie, please don't be mad, but I…I…I just wanted to get it out. I'll understand if you don't want to accept my proposal," Soma said, "but please think about it first!"

"I don't know what to say right now…" she replied.

"You don't have to speak…" He said. Then he went in and kissed her on the lips.

Kissing was an alien feeling for Millie. She had many boyfriends, but they've never kissed her so passionately like Soma does. This feeling didn't suit her, but she felt strangely warm. Despite him being a full vampire, Soma would never want to hurt her or everyone else, so what's there to lose? She too had felt feelings of love towards him as well…but were they genuine?

* * *

Being in the cold snowstorm made her almost shiver to death, since her fire element was nullified in the freezing climate. It was a good thing that Soma had found the group, or everyone would have froze in the night. But one thing was for certain; they would not be able to survive the night at the freezing temperatures. First thing's first: they needed to find shelter. But the only known place that the group was able to escape from the cold was the Vampire Flats. '_I'd rather die here than go over there,_' Millie thought, '_that'll be the day that Princess Millie goes knocking on the Door of the Demons, asking for refuge!_' She grunted at the thought of the vampires giving a group of halflings and humans a place to stay. '_Fat chance._' 


End file.
